JillMelancon Travel

7 July 2023

We were in the port of Skagway by 6 am, so I had some breakfast in buffet and went to meet my tour, walking right off the ship this time.  We went to one place that has both sled dogs and gold panning.

We had to listen to an explanation first of the equipment needed for dog sledding—they had an actual sled and some examples of equipment there to see.  It was semi-interesting, but bring on the doggies!  You go outside and see them in their pens and they start going crazy!  We stood on either side of a small run and the dogs came running down and you could pet them as they walked by or hopped on the railing for pets.

They they brought a sled down and attached a few of the dogs (the ones not doing it went crazy!  They so wanted to run!), then ran it around an outdoor track.  So cute!  Some of these dogs have run the Iditerod before and just looked so happy to be running. 

They let the dogs go back into the pens and brought out the puppies—oh my goodness they were just over 2 weeks old and SOOOOO cute and cuddly. 

We then walked over to the gold panning area for a pun-laded presentation about how it works, then they took us into an area with water and pans for us to use.  I was having a hard time shaking it properly, but in the end panned a little over $15 in gold flakes lol.  They give it to you in an old film canister, weigh it and give you an amount it is worth.  Then of course they try and sell you jewelry and stuff to show off your find—but I didn’t do it.  Instead, I got some local root beer and a cookie and took a break.

Then they walked us around the area for some gold rush history with our guide Mountain Goat Billy…and a look at some old equipment…then back to town where we were able to get off if we wanted (and the rest of the people went back to the ship).  I headed to Skagway Brewing Company which was really good—especially the famous spruce tip ale which I didn’t think I would like, but was delicious.  I walked around a bit, then headed back to port for the next tour.

Hopped on our bus and headed to the Gold Rush cemetery…a very old, small cemetery where almost everything is made of wood…strange!  Why not stone markers?  The White Pass train goes right by every 10-15 minutes so got a good photo…then headed to a photo stop at Denver Glacier which is the end of the Juneau ice field on Harding mountain—named after President Harding who was the only president to ever visit Skagway (but referred to it as the “armpit of America”).

We then headed back into the city for the “Days of ‘98” show—which has been running for 100 years!  It was stupid and the actors were awful—it was basically the story of one of the more infamous men to ever live in Skagway.   One more viewpoint overlooking the city, then back to the ship.

Headed to buffet for dinner, but nothing good there, so grabbed a slice of pizza which turned out to be delicious.  Watched more Love Boat and blew off tonight’s entertainment show since so far the entertainment here has been underwhelming.  Took a shower and went to bed.